𝓿𝓸𝔂𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓻 | 𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓮é 𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓹

3.

september 9th
—————————————

the whole band and gracie were gathered at the swift household to get ready for the vmas. gracie was doing hair, taylor was doing makeup, and willow was helping the rest of the band with their ties.

"i'm so nervous oh my god." willow said after giving lucy a quick peck on the cheek when she was done tying the older girls tie.

"you'll be okay babe i swear. there's nothing to worry about." taylor said as she stood up from doing phoebe's eyeliner.

"of course you're saying that, you've been to like five hundred thousand award shows, and have won in every single one of them. meanwhile, we're up against actually the hottest people on earth." the girl said, "no offense guys." willow said, referring to the band behind her.

"none taken." julien responded as she was cuffing her shirt.

willow sat on her bed, checking her e-mails to see the seating arrangement.

"guys." willow paused, "guys guys guys guys oh my god oh my god."

"what?" everyone in the room asked at the same time.

"i'm sitting next to reneé rapp." she said.

"fuck yeah!" phoebe said, "oh shit, sorry taylor. fuck. damn. oh my god i'm just gonna stop." phoebe apologized as willow laughed, thinking about the threat she gave the older girl a few weeks before.

"what do i do if she talks to me?" the youngest girl asked.

"talk back to her?" gracie said, stifling a laugh.

"i'm serious! i don't know her and if we don't talk to each other, she'll have like no one to talk to." willow said.

"willow, when was the last time you took a deep breath?" taylor said, sitting down next to her daughter.

"we gotta get going guys." she said, planting a kiss on willow's head before standing up and grabbing her purse.

—————————————

the red carpet was chaos, as expected, but taylor made sure to hold willow's hand the whole time. she was sweating profusely.

taylor and willow made it to an interviewer.

"hi, ladies! how is your night going?" he asked

"hi! it's going well, how about you?" willow asked.

"i'm doing great. now, willow, it's your first time on a red carpet, correct?" the girl nodded, "is there anything that caught you by surprise?" he questioned.

"um, yeah, i mean it's very hectic. which i guess was expected, but i'm not particularly processing it all at the moment." willow responded.

"okay, one more question for you and i'll get out of your hair. what are you looking forward to tonight?" the man asked.

"well, i'm ready to see my mom perform," she said, resting her head on her shoulder for a moment, "and i'm sitting next to some cool people, and i'm very excited for that." she finished.

"perfect! have a good night!" he said, as the two walked away.

"he was nice!" willow said out of surprise. she had fully expected everyone to be rude. well, the photographers weren't particularly nice, but the interviewers were fine.
at the end of the carpet, the group met up to go find their seats. reneé hadn't gotten there yet, thank god.

it wasn't long before a familiar looking blonde showed up. willow started hitting gracie on the shoulder until she came up to the seat next to her.

"hi! i'm reneé!" the girl shouted over the noise of everyone speaking. willow stood up to shake her hand.

"nice to meet you! i'm willow! this is gracie!" willow said as gracie stood up to shake the girls hand.

soon after everyone sat down and introduced themselves, the lights went dim as nicki minaj appeared on stage.

willow pulled out her phone quickly.

—————————————
the girlies

sharkie
guys i am GOING to
shit my pants.

pee pee
okay well don't fucking text
us while she's right beside you??

sharkie
i am going to hurt you.

—————————————

shortly after, nicki stepped off the stage as an announcer for an award replaced her.

"damnit, i want nicki back." willow said under her breath, the blonde girl beside her choking back a laugh.

"no you're so real for that." reneé said lowly as she whispered into the brunettes ear. willow's face heating up due to the lack of space between them.

willow looked at reneé, "this might be like really soon, but i was wondering if you were like doing anything after this. like the after party or anything? because i'm not and i was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house or something with me and my friends." the girl just tilted her head with her mouth slightly open, "i don't know i just feel like you guys would get along well. sorry you don't have to if you don't want to like it's completely up to you." willow rambled, nearly incoherently, "we'll probably play like uno or something." she finished, as her words started getting quieter and all started running together. reneé just smiled at the effect she had on the younger girl.

"you're nervous, huh?" reneé asked, avoiding answering.

"mhm." willow admitted as she nodded slowly.

"i don't have anything going on after this. of course, i'll play uno with you." reneé said, allowing willow to take a very obvious sigh of relief.

—————————————

as the night went on, willow became tired. neither gracie, her, or reneé won their awards. it hurt a little seeing reneé's shoulders go down and her expression change when her name wasn't called.
willow put her head on gracie's shoulder and closed her eyes as she kissed the top of her head.

"i know, i know." gracie said, putting her hands through her hair.

reneé looked at the two girls and smiled lightly.

—————————————

willow woke up to reneé lightly shaking her shoulder.

"if you don't want me to come over, that's fine. i can see that you're tired, you need some sleep." reneé said as the two stood up.

"no, no! it's okay! promise." willow said.

"fine. but if you fall asleep on the way there, you're going to bed and i'm not waking you up." reneé said.

gracie took willow's hand, quite literally dragging her to the car, reneé following shortly behind.